Captured Vehicles & Battlefield Recognition Symbols

[dragoon500ly]

Originally Posted by bobcat

there already is such a system in place. im not gonna go into details online even if all you need to do is a quick google search. but i'll give you a clue the tin roof looking stuf on every vehile down range...
...it ain't armor.

Am well aware of that tin roof looking stuff and I may have a better idea of what and how it is made of! But it has the same drawbacks of all IR-IFF gear, if the vehicle is moving towards you or accross your front...you have very little real chance of IDing the vehicle. Because of its fundlemental flaw...if it works in all aspects, then the enemy can confirm your ID too!

Now waving a pirate flag from your antenne!

[Abbott Shaull]

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

Am well aware of that tin roof looking stuff and I may have a better idea of what and how it is made of! But it has the same drawbacks of all IR-IFF gear, if the vehicle is moving towards you or accross your front...you have very little real chance of IDing the vehicle. Because of its fundlemental flaw...if it works in all aspects, then the enemy can confirm your ID too!

Now waving a pirate flag from your antenne!

Yeah 100 years on modern battlefield and they haven't figure out to keep vehicles from being killed by friendly fire....

[Panther Al]

Hehheh, speaking of flying flags, when I was over there I, like many, flew a flag from the radio aerial, what made it funny was when we rolled past some west islander crooks standing by their busted ASLAV- the flag was given to me to fly from my SO- A New Zealand one. The double takes they gave when an A2 was flying it was priceless.

Almost as good as when the Regimental commander stepped into my training room back in the states. Had a pic of my SO, her daughter, and Her Majesty. I was always being asked what army I thought I was in for some odd reason...

[dragoon500ly]

Shoot! One of my platoon sergeants back in 85 had served eight years in the British Army, then followed his wife stateside and joined the US Army. Nothing like a thick Welch accent on the radio to have the rest of the troop going "whatd'fuck did he say?"

And yes he had a ton of "Jones the Soldier, Jones the Butcher, Jones the Spy" jokes!

As well as several "Jones and the sheep" that had us straights wondering about what was going on back in them there hills at night!

[bobcat]

Originally Posted by Panther Al

Hehheh, speaking of flying flags, when I was over there I, like many, flew a flag from the radio aerial, what made it funny was when we rolled past some west islander crooks standing by their busted ASLAV- the flag was given to me to fly from my SO- A New Zealand one. The double takes they gave when an A2 was flying it was priceless.

Almost as good as when the Regimental commander stepped into my training room back in the states. Had a pic of my SO, her daughter, and Her Majesty. I was always being asked what army I thought I was in for some odd reason...

i get asked similar questions from time to time. more specificly the conversation goes like this: "SPC Bobcat why is ther a jolly roger flying from your mount?"
"sir thats not a jolly roger, thats the jolly bobcat."
"whatever, wat do you think this is? the navy?"
"you mean we don't get to loot and pillage every village we go through?"
"..."
oddly enough everyone in my unit that wasn't my FSNCO, or my FSO loved having me around.

[pmulcahy11b]

On my first assignment with the Army (at Ft Stewart at 24th ID), I was assigned to the battalion mortar platoon. The primary FDC flew the Jolly Roger at NTC, but 1LT Helbing once, before an NTC rotation, made the mistake of calling us in the Secondary FDC "the Romper Room" because we were constantly joking around. (We did our job well, though, despite the lighthearted atmosphere.)

I went up to Savannah and located a Toys-R-Us near HAAF's main gate, and I found a Romper Room flag about the same size as the primary FDCs Jolly Roger. Just in time for NTC.

[James Langham2]

Being Welsh I have been known to have a flag of the mother-in-law visible at HQ...

[rcaf_777]

In the book Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War by Rick Atkinson, the author meations the problem the USAF has which ID of friendly IFV while on the ground and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) solutions into sloving this. I think one of the systems was flashing ID Beacon. I remember hearing about something like this on the TOW ATGM course in 1995. Something like it's in the research stage troops more to follow.

[Olefin]

Considering the sheer number of captured vehicles that both sides are operating there may be recognition symbols that are agreed on ones that you could paint on the vehicle that aren't as blatant as flying the US Flag or writing "Die Commies" on the side of it but which will still allow you to sneak around without getting taken out by your own guys - or even worse getting attacked by them trying to take the vehicle for themselves when all they need to do is identify and climb aboard